Golf practice device including simulated divot means



Oct. 24, 1967 F. FISCHL 3,348,347

GOLF PRACTICE DEVICE INCLUDING SIMULATED DIVOT MEANS Filed Sept. 28, 1964 FIE.3

United States Patent Ofiice 3,348,847 Patented Oct. 24, 1967 3,348,847 GOLF PRACTICE DEVICE INCLUDING SIMULATED DIVOT MEANS Frederick Fischl, Bi-Lateral Fire Hose C0., 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago, Ill. 60606 Filed Sept. 28, 1964, Ser. No. 399,698 2 Claims. (Cl. 273-186) This invention relates to a game practice device for improving game skill by practicing fundamentals of the game under conditions simulating actual game conditions, and more particularly it relates to a golf practice device.

Certain devices have been produced to assist the average golfer in practicing phases of his golf game in his own back yard or in his own house. For example, lightweight, perforated plastic balls which, even when struck properly with great force, travel only a few feet with little impact; certain putting practice devices which utilixe cup and carpet portions simulating conditions on a green and which may be easily set up inside a house; and simulated teeing devices to be utilized with the aforementioned light-weight perforated balls to practice driving. However, in all these developments there has been lacking a suitable device for properly practicing so-called iron shots. The basic nature of the proper swing utilized in making a so-called iron shot, is such that it is not susceptible to easy practice. In a proper iron shot, the ball is struck by the club head while the club head is still traveling downwardly. The club slices into and picks up a wedge of turf called a divot. This rules out the possibility of practicing within the house and further rules out the possibility of practice in the golfers own yard since continued practice would tend to ruin the lawn. Several practice boards or platforms have been perfected for practicing driving shots. None of these devices has been particularly adapted for permitting the practice of a true fairway iron shot in that none of the devices permits the club head to continue traveling downwardly after striking the ball on the surface of the device.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved golf practice device.

It is a general object of this invention to provide a new and improved golf practice device adapted to permit the practice of a fairway iron shot under simulated fairway conditions.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved golf practice device which is adapted to permit the practice of a stroke of a ball which rests on the playing surface wherein a proper stroke continues downwardly after the golf club head has struck the ball.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a new and improved golf practice device permitting the practice of fairway shots where the ball rests on the fairway wherein the practice device has a simulated divot portion which permits the club head to continue to travel downwardly after the club has struck the ball and lift the simulated divot portion in a fashion similar to that experienced with such a shot taken on a fairway under game conditions.

Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a with the device of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the practice device of this invention;

FIGURE 3 is a section view taken along the line 33 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 showing the player practicing 7 ball and simulated divot propelled in flight by a swing of a golf club.

Referring now to the drawings, the device 10 of this invention includes a generally flat planar platform 12 for supporting a player 14. The platform is of a size and shape to support not only a player, but to be provided with a simulated turf or fairway portion 16 spaced such a distance from the player as to allow the player to assume a normal golfing stance with respect to a ball 18 which is played on the simulate-d fairway portion which is to be struck by a golf club 20 grasped by the player in his golfing stance. The platform may be of any suitable hard material having suflicient strength to support a golfer such as wood, suitable plastics, or the like.

The fairway portion 16 is positioned in a mating recess 22 in the platform. The recess 22 is of such a size so that the top of the simulated fairway portion is substantially co-planar with the platform to place the golfer at substantially the same elevation relative to the ball when practicing as he would be when on the golf course. The simulated fairway portion 16 may be made of a foam rubber or a rubberized bristle or other material or which most nearly simulates the turf of a golf course fairway.

Fairway portion 16 is also provided with a recess 24 for receiving a wedge 26 of the same material. The wedge 26 simulates a replaceable divot which may be picked up and propelled forward by the club head whenever the golfer has executed a proper swing, the same as would occur when the golfer would cut out a wedge or divot of turf on the golf course. This simulated divot or wedge may also be made of the same turf simulating material as the fairway portion 16. The size of the wedge and configuration thereof as well as of the recess 24 is such so that the wedge or simulated divot, when placed in the recess, presents a smooth, fiat, simulated fairway surface in an area immediately in front of the point where the ball is to be positioned. The bottom 26a of the simulated divot is slightly rounded so as to nearly conform to an are 27 through which the club head travels in an executed swing.

It is contemplated that the simulated divot might be connected to the turf portion by a resilient or retractable means to overcome the problem of necessarily retrieving the divot after every practice swing. In FIGURE 4, the divot is shown in flight and connected to the simulated turf portion by a band 28. As the divot reaches a point where its motion is overcome by the resilience of the band, then the divot would be returned to the general area of the platform and require only a minor amount of manual manipulation to be reinserted into the recess 24. This avoids the necessity of the golfer having to step off the platform and walk a few feet to where the simulated divot had come to rest and picking up the same and returning to the platform.

This invention provides a convenient means for practicing an iron shot with a device which may be easily set up in the yard or in the home. The top of the fairway portion and the platform are in the same plane so that the golfer will be generally on the same elevation relative to the ball as would be found under normal fairway conditions. With the ball placed on the fairway portion adjacent to the divot, a proper swing with a so-called iron club will propel a practice ball and launch the divot in a manner similar to that experienced under actual golfing conditions. The practice device is relatively simple in construction and may be made of substantially inexpensive materials enhancing its economy of manufacture and sale.

I claim:

1. A golf practice device for use with a golf ball and 0 golf club, comprising: a platform; a simulated fairway movably embedded in said simulated fairway portion, said simulated fairway portion and divot means being of substantially the same elevation as the platform, and said divot portion means being provided with a convex bottom configuration; an outwardly concave recess formed in said fairway portion generally mating with said divot means bottom configuration, said recess configuration and convex bottom approximating the path of travel of a properly swung golf club head, andsaid divot portion means being so configured as to be launched by the head of said golf club when said club has been properly swung to propel said golf ball after said ball has been positioned on saidifairway portion adjacent the periphery of said divot portion means.

2. For use in practicing strokes with a golf ball and a golf club of the iron type, a golf practice device, comprising: a platform generally constructed and arranged to support a user in a golf club swinging position; a simulated fairway portion in the platform of a generally yieldable material for supporting a golf ball to be struck by a golf club; a recess in said fairway portion, opposite side wall portions of the recess generally converging toward each other; a simulated divot member in the fairway portion having a generally planar top surface and opposite side wall portions generally converging toward each other so that the divot member is generally nestably received within the recess of the fairway portion with the top:

a proper path of travel-through the recess in the fairway portion after launching the divotb References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 677,938 7/1901 Carson 2734 723,807 3/1903 Babbitt et al. 273l26 2,246,681 6/1941 Harte a 273184 3,143,350 8/1964 Lester 273-495 3,232,619 2/1966 Burk 273-123 F. BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM,:Examin'er.

G. J. MARLO, L. J. BOVASSO, Assistant Examiners. 

1. A GOLF PRACTICE DEVICE FOR USE WITH A GOLF BALL AND GOLF CLUB, COMPRISING: A PLATFORM; A SIMULATED FAIRWAY PORTION IN SAID PLATFORM FOR SUPPORTING A GOLF BALL TO BE STRUCK BY A GOLF CLUB; MEANS SIMULATING A DIVOT PORTION REMOVABLY EMBEDDED IN SAID SIMULATED FAIRWAY PORTION, SAID SIMULATED FAIRWAY PORTION AND DIVOT MEANS BEING OF SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME ELEVATION AS THE PLATFORM, AND SAID DIVOT PORTION MEANS BEING PROVIDED WITH A CONVEX BOTTOM CONFIGURATION; AN OUTWARDLY CONCAVE RECESS FORMED IN SAID FAIRWAY PORTION GENERALLY MATING WITH SAID DIVOT MEANS BOTTOM CONFIGURATION, SAID RECESS CONFIGURATION AND CONVEX BOTTOM APPROXIMATING THE PATH OF TRAVEL OF A PROPERLY SWUNG GOLF CLUB HEAD, AND SAID DIVOT PORTION MEANS BEING SO CONFIGURED AS TO BE LAUNCHED BY THE HEAD OF SAID GOLF CLUB WHEN SAID CLUB HAS BEEN PROPERLY SWUNG TO PROPEL SAID GOLF BALL AFTER SAID BALL HAS BEEN POSITIONED ON SAID FAIRWAY PORTION ADJACENT THE PERIPHERY OF SAID DIVOT PORTION MEANS. 